Chained Souls
by OMNISENSE95
Summary: Following the defeat of the Kishin Asura, Soul and Maka are suddenly dragged into another dimension; one controled by god-like creatures called "fal'Cie". Can the two of them ever make it back home? And what role does this girl play in everything? WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR FINAL FANTASY XIII.
1. A New World

**I HATE myself right now. Why? Because I'm writing a new story when I working on SOOO many others. Maybe I should just delete some of those… Yeah, one of them really isn't working out. Anyway, this is going to be a retelling of the events of **_**Final Fantasy XIII**_**, but as a crossover with a manga I've recently taken a particular interest in: **_**Soul Eater**_**. This will start on the first of the Thirteen Days (The one where Fang and Vanille awaken from Crystal Stasis), and continues on through each day and through the events of the game. Well, **_**Final Fantasy XIII**_** and **_**Soul Eater**_** are both copyright to SquareEnix, apparently. News to me. Ah well, it's not important right now. Enjoy!**

* * *

_**Chapter 1**_

_**Day 1**_

_**A New World**_

**Maka's POV**

My head was in a world of pain as I slowly regained consciousness. The last thing I remembered was forcing myself to slay the Kishinized Crona after Asura absorbed him… and then this flash of white light, and I just passed out. I swore I heard bells as I was losing consciousness…

The sound of gentle waves brought me back to reality. I sat up where I was to see that I was on some beach near a small, coastal town. The sun was setting, but there was something off about it… it looked completely different than the sun I was used to looking at; it didn't have some creepy face fighting to stave off sleep, and it wasn't some orb of stone with stalactites on it… or at least I think it wasn't, it was too far away for me to tell.

This can't be Death City. This can't even be the same universe, not with that sun.

But… How did I get here? Or is this a hallucination I'm having because of the Kishin's Madness? No… it can't be. The madness can't delude someone on THAT big a scale. It can't have been brought about by Soul's Black Blood; the substance doesn't…

SOUL! Where's Soul!? I looked around frantically for him, but the scythe boy was nowhere nearby. He must have landed somewhere else in this place.

Or maybe he stayed…

I hung my head in despair at the thought. I doubted that Soul was left behind while I got dragged here, but currently, I was otherwise all alone… practically defenseless without my partner…

I have to find him.

I immediately got up from where I was, and started searching. He can't have landed too far off…

* * *

**Soul's POV**

Jeez… what was that white light? My head was throbbing painfully, and I didn't remember anything past Maka coming to terms with killing the Asura-controled Crona, much to her dislike, and then the light I mentioned earlier… and were those bells I heard then?

I slowly got up, and opened my eyes to look upon this grassy plain, seemingly endless in terms of boundaries. How the heck did I get here? I'm pretty sure we weren't in a plain like this when we were fighting the Kishin. Maybe Maka would…. Wait a minute…

WHERE IS SHE!?

"Maka! Maka, where are you!? MAKA!"

I called out into the plains, hoping beyond hope that my meister was nearby, and heard my calls.

The wrong being heard me.

As I continued to call desperately for Maka, I heard a snarling sound behind me. I slowly turned to face this wolf-like creature, with sliver fur and teeth sharper than mine. The thing was eyeing me like I was dinner. In that thing's mind, I more than likely was.

I backed away from it very slowly. What else was I supposed to do? A weapon without a wielder is next to useless, and I don't think I could cut something with that kind of agility on my own.

As I backed away, I suddenly tripped over a stick and landed ungracefully on my rear end. The monster took the opportunity and lunged at me, and I closed my eyes in anticipation of the impending maul.

What I heard instead was someone's battle cry and the sound of breaking bones.

My eyes opened in shock, and I could see the wolf thing lying dead on the ground, its spinal cord fractured in two. Standing over the thing was a tall, well-built man, about twenty, twenty-one years old, with blonde hair showing from under a black bandana, and long white trench coat, black combat gloves, black sweatpants and boots, and this necklace adorned with this pendant that showed a cat. He looked towards me, grinning smugly and reminding me of Black Star.

"Hey, kid," He said to me while extending a hand. "You alright?"

"Yeah," I gratefully accepted the offered hand and stood up with his aid. "For a minute there, I thought I would end up that thing's dinner." I continued to look this guy over. He seemed trustworthy enough- he DID go out of his way to save my ass- so I had to ask him. "Uh… where exactly am I?"

The man raised an eyebrow, but didn't stress his curiosity. "Just a couple miles north of the Seaside city of Bodhum."

"Bodhum? I've never heard of that place. Is it anywhere near Death City?"

"Anywhere near what?"

Is this a joke? This guy has never heard of Death City? "Just where in Cocoon are you from?"

C-Cocoon? That's not the name of the planet… Did… Did I…?

"Uh… it's not important right now. Right now, I don't have a place to stay for the night, so I…" I trailed off as the gravity of the situation hit me. I might never get back home to Death City. It's possible that there's no way to get back. I might never see any of my friends again… Kid… Liz… Patty… Tsubaki… Black Star… Blair… Maka… Did Maka even come here with me? I don't know.

"Hey, kid, how about you stay with me at the NORA House?" the guy offered, pulling me out of my thoughts. Is this guy really offering me to stay with him at his place? Well… what other option do I have? I'm in an unfamiliar world, Maka is Death-knows-where, and I'm more or less alone.

"Sure. Oh, and for future reference, my name is Soul, not 'kid', okay?"

"Heh, Spunky one, aren't you?" Definitely like Black Star. "I'm Snow. Snow Villiers."

I couldn't help but chuckle a little. I mean, come on, who the heck would name their son "Snow"? With that note, I followed Snow towards the city of Bodhum. As we walked, I couldn't help but hope that Maka was there… somewhere.

* * *

**Unknown POV**

What is this abnormality I sense? A distortion in the fabric of space-time? Two beings from another dimension have been dragged into this one. I sense that now. How will they affect the events that will play out soon?

Lord Pulse… Are you certain that things should proceed as planned?

…

As you wish.

My two l'Cie… warrior maidens of Oerba…

Awaken… And complete for me, your one true Focus…

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**And that is the entirety of this first chapter. If anyone can correctly guess from whose POV the last part was told in, you win one free spoiler. Please review.**


	2. Forbidden Romance

**Well, here's the second chapter to my latest experiment. Enjoy!**

* * *

_**Chapter 2**_

_**Day 2**_

_**Forbidden Romance**_

**Soul's POV**

I slowly woke up to the smell of cooking eggs, immediately aroused by the intoxicating aroma. I was honestly expecting to see my bedroom back in the apartment I shared with Maka in Death City, but was met with the wooden walls of the guest room Snow offered me last night. That really wasn't a dream then…

My uniform was lying on the dresser, more than likely washed by someone here. I slowly put it back on, numerous thoughts running around in my head, the most prominent of which being if Maka is somewhere in this place with me.

Looking out the window, I watched Cocoon's sun- Snow said it was actually this fal'Cie thing named Phoenix- rise over the gentle waters of the Bodhum shoreline. Fal'Cie… god-like beings that provide for everyone on Cocoon… creatures with immense power, and use that power to pamper the entirety of the population of this floating "utopia"…

That sickens me.

I left the room walked over the entrance room of the NORA House. Lebreau, a member of NORA and the cook that keeps the House running, was already up and making breakfast for the rest of the group. She noticed me walking in, and wordlessly waved me over to the veranda. I noticed something around then.

"Where's Snow?" I had to ask.

"He left already," Lebreau answered. "Had a date with his girlfriend, Serah." The suggestive way she said that had me wondering what kind of girl this Serah person was. I imagine the relationship is largely approved of by many of the residents of Bodhum, the most prominent being members of Serah's family.

* * *

**Maka's POV**

"YOU STAY AWAY FROM MY SISTER!"

The blonde guy laughed off the woman's demand, lengthening my mental list of similarities between him and Black Star.

I was honestly embarrassed for the young adult standing off to the side in this encounter. I had spent the entirety of the previous night searching for some sign of Soul, but eventually had to rest up at this spiffy hotel on the beach (they offered me a room for free in promotion of an upcoming fireworks festival). This morning, I almost immediately resumed the search after I ate breakfast, but I was interrupted from that when this scene started playing out. A tall blonde man had come over to meet with his girlfriend, a short girl with pink hair tied into a side ponytail. She wore these cat earrings, a translucent white blouse that showed her black undershirt, and black leggings. The girl was accompanied by an older woman who wore a military grade outfit and this plate on her left shoulder. The only reason that I could tell this woman was the girl's older sister was because of her pink hair.

The second the woman noticed the other guy, she went into this fit of rage while her victim seemed ecstatic at meeting his beloved's family. A crowd had started to gather during her rant, but neither of them seemed to notice or care. I could only imagine how vulnerable and embarrassed that poor girl was feeling.

I don't understand why the older woman hates this guy so much. Shouldn't she be waiting until he cheats on her sister before she starts chewing him out in a public situation?

It was at this point that the older woman just gave up the battle for now, and stalked away in a huff. Yeesh, talk about a constrictive family.

* * *

**The next day**

**Serah's POV**

Sigh… Yesterday was a fiasco. I knew Lightning would flip when she found out I was dating the leader of NORA; I just didn't expect her to do so in public like that. That was SO embarrassing.

I decided to just wander around today. Maybe check out the Pulse vestige. The history of Cocoon and the mythology of the fal'Cie and the War of Transgression 500 years ago… it's just so interesting to me. Imagine the discoveries that can be made concerning the history of Cocoon and Pulse. If one were to decipher the deepest mysteries behind the War of Transgression…

I wasn't looking where I was going at this point, so I ended up bumping into someone, sending both of us tumbling to the ground. I hastily scrambled to my feet, apologizing to this person the entire time. As I got a good look at her, I could see that it was a girl a little younger than me, maybe fifteen or sixteen years old. She had sandy blonde hair tied into two pigtails and had these seemingly pupil less green eyes.

"Oh, you're that girl from yesterday, aren't you?" She asked. She saw the scene yesterday.

"I'm sorry about that. Lightning can be a little too headstrong sometimes."

The girl looked on in skepticism. "Your sister's name is 'Lightning'?"

"That's what she goes by." I looked the girl over one more time. She seemed friendly enough. "My name's Serah. Serah Farron."

"Maka Albarn. It's nice to meet you, Serah."

I smiled gently at her. Maka seemed like a nice enough person. I could trust her.

"Well, it was nice meeting you. I should probably get going."

"Wait, Serah… could you do me a favor?"

I kept eye contact with Maka. What could she be asking of me?

"Sure. What is it?"

"I'm looking for someone. His name's Soul. White hair, ruby red eyes, most likely wearing an outfit identical to mine. If you see him, let him know I'm alright."

I nodded my head at her request. It seemed harmless enough… and I could probably empathize with her. I could barely imagine what it would be like to be separated from Snow for an unreasonably long time. I quickly memorized Maka's outfit, just in case I did run into her friend. The two of us parted ways at this moment, with me heading towards the Bodhum vestige.

When I got there, the first thing I noticed was that the door was open. My curiosity was peaking at that point. Against my better judgment, I ventured inside the vestige… and soon after fell unconscious.

When I came to, I had been cursed.

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**There you go! Please review.**


	3. Bonds of Love

**Welcome back to Chained Souls. Well, enjoy the third chapter.**

* * *

_**Chapter 3**_

_**Day 7**_

_**Bonds of Love**_

**Snow's POV**

It was just around sunset that day. Serah had said she wanted to tell me something, so I waited for her at the courtyard near the beach. The last four days had been rather calm… well, except for that incident at Euride Gorge the other day, and that one time yesterday when Soul got a small paper cut on his finger and I noticed that bits and pieces of his blood were black, but at the time, I just wrote it of as a trick of the light.

I was pulled out of my thoughts when I noticed Serah approaching my location. I noticed that she was still wearing that white cloth on her upper left arm. She had been wearing that cloth for the last four days, but I didn't really see anything wrong. In my mind, Serah was just making a fashion statement.

She had her eyes downcast as she made it over to me. I could tell something was bothering her.

"Hey, Serah… Is something wrong?" I asked her. She didn't answer right away, likely contemplating what she should say.

"Look… Snow… it's over between us."

I just stared at her, wondering if I heard right.

"Hey, wait. You can't just drop the breakup bomb like that. We've gone too far to stop now."

"Just… Just stay away from me!"

I could tell from that statement that she was serious about this, but the tears in her eyes told me that she wasn't happy about this decision. She tried to run off at this point, but I called over to her, stopping her dead in her tracks.

"Serah… Before we met, I was perfectly fine with being alone. But then we did. Now…I can't imagine anything else. We've gone too far to stop now, and now you want to break up?"

"I don't want to… I have to."

"Look, if it's something I did, just tell me. At least do that much for me."

She remained silent for a few seconds, thinking about what I said. Soon, she sighed dejectedly.

"Alright." She then took off the white cloth on her arm and turned so that I had a clear view of her left arm. "Look."

I did, but I just couldn't believe what I saw. My breath became shallow and uneven as I looked at the mark on Serah's arm: a series of overlapping vertical lines, the center line of which featured arrows pointing up and down, and a line of hollow squares in the center, like an eye beginning to open. She was…

"Branded by Pulse." She gave voice to the idea. "I'm a l'Cie. Do you get it now?" She turned away from me as I just collapsed to my knees in sheer disbelieve. "I'm your enemy. An enemy of Cocoon. Snow… good-bye." At that, she ran off, and all I could do was watch her leave, tears falling in her wake.

How could I have let this happen to her? Why didn't she tell me sooner? I banged my fist on the ground in hopelessness. I just can't believe I let this happen. I was sitting there for at least half an hour, berating myself for letting Serah run off like that.

"No…" I had to make things right. "Serah!" I almost instantly got back up to my feet and ran after Serah.

* * *

**Soul's POV**

I sighed heavily. A whole week in this place, and still no sign of Maka. I started to lose hope at this time. Maybe she WAS left behind. Maybe I'm alone here, with only Snow and his NORA buddies to provide the illusion of company.

What's more, the city was holding some fireworks festival in four days, and there's this urban legend saying that those fireworks can grant peoples' wishes. Absolute baloney. If that thing was true…I'd wish Maka was here with me…

I was rudely forced out of my thoughts when this eighteen-year-old girl with pink hair tied into a side ponytail ran past me towards the docks, stepping on my foot in the process. She was in such a hurry that she didn't bother to apologize to me. Hissing with the pain, I sat down on a nearby bench, and started massaging my throbbing foot. Snow came running by a few minutes later, and upon noticing me on the bench, he came over to me.

"Hey, Soul, have you seen a girl run by here?"

"Over on the docks," I gave him the short version, deciding that telling him about my foot was not a good idea. That girl must have been this Serah person the NORA people kept talking about: Snow's girlfriend. I watched Snow run over to the docks in a rush.

Did they have a fight or something?

"I wonder if there's anyone else here who knows what it's like to not know where a friend is…someone they care about more than anything…" I wondered aloud.

* * *

**Unknown POV**

I sneezed rather violently all of a sudden. Hope that was Vanille talking about me…

* * *

**Serah's POV**

I don't know how long I just stood there, crying on the docks. It was all I could do to express my immeasurable despair.

My life was over. There's no future for Pulse l'Cie. I may as well just die now and get it over with.

I heard footsteps behind me. It was obvious from the loud noise that it was Snow. I kept my back to him as he ran up to me.

"What was your Focus?" He asked me. I still didn't turn towards him. "When l'Cie are branded, they are given a Focus: a task to complete. What did the fal'Cie tell you to do?"

What did it matter what my Focus is? I have no idea anyway.

"I… I don't know," Was all I could choke out. That was the worst part of it. "I'm… I'm going to be a Cie'th…"

Snow finally turned me towards him. "Serah… I won't let that happen." I could only stare at him in surprise. Is he serious? "We'll figure this out, I promise."

"But… if the Sanctum finds out…"

"Let them try. They'll have to get through me first."

I felt the tears returning to my eyes… but they weren't tears of despair. Snow… You'd really risk your life… for me?

"Hey, Snow? If the legends are true… l'Cie who complete their focus turn to crystal and receive the gift of eternity… If I…"

"Hey, they wouldn't call it 'eternity' if you died."

I can't believe that I was so stupid. I should have known that Snow… I can't believe I thought he would abandon me if he found out. Pushing others away just to protect them…

That isn't love.

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**There we go. Please review.**


	4. Wishes

**Hello there, people! Here it is: the fourth chapter of Chained Souls! Enjoy!**

* * *

_**Chapter 4**_

_**Day 11**_

_**Wishes**_

**Maka's POV**

It was finally the night of the annual fireworks festival. I walked calmly through the crowd, looking up at the impressive fireworks display within this tall elliptical field of energy. The hotel I had been staying in for the past eleven days had filled up rather quickly; there was even this one pair of tourists from this city called Palumpolum who had rented the room right next to mine eight days in advance.

I could see that particular pair sitting nearby. I was a young woman, maybe in her early-thirties, with faded silver hair, and a serene, calm face. What she wore was this wraparound sweater with a hood-like neck and off shoulder sleeves. She was accompanied by a small boy, most likely her son. He had the same silver-blonde hair, but with more brightness to it, bluish-green eyes, and a young face. He wore this green bandanna around his neck, black gloves with white palms, this yellow cloth around his left wrist, green cargo-shorts, a long sleeved orange and yellow jacket, and this black undershirt. He had to be fourteen years old, at most.

I stopped where I was, looking on at the mother and son pair. They seemed so happy together… Almost like my own relationship with mom…

I turned towards the fireworks, remembering this urban legend I heard from one of the locals: make a wish on them, and it will come true. I closed my eyes, absorbing the excitement of the tourists and locals alike who were watching the display.

I wish… I wish Soul was here, at my side. Just one more week here… to find him.

* * *

**Lightning's POV**

I closed my eyes as I made my wish: for whatever it took to make up for the loneliness I put Serah through… the loneliness she went to Snow to ease.

"Making a wish, Farron?" I was quickly jolted back to reality at this remark. I turned to see my commanding officer, Lt. Amador, walking my way. Amador was a dark-skinned man, roughly 32 years of age, wearing the standard Guardian Corps uniform.

"Sorry, Lieutenant," I responded. "I really don't think guard duty is my calling, sir."

"Well, lucky for you, your shift just ended. You can pack up and head home. That reminds me, you're taking tomorrow off, right?"

"F-for my birthday, sir. My sister, she insisted on it." I almost forgot that in my boredom.

"Twenty-one, huh? Big time for you Farron. Good thing I sent that letter of recommendation for officer training."

I stared at him in shock and disbelieve. He seriously…

"Sir…"

"You're past due for a promotion, Farron. You need to provide more for your sister. That reminds me, you remember that accident at the Euride Gorge power plant? The one that has the Sanctum in a tizzy?"

I glanced sidelong at a few PSICOM soldiers positioned around the perimeter of the square.

"More 'incident' than 'accident'."

"A word of advice, Farron: Don't get involved with PSICOM nonsense. It'll bring nothing but trouble."

At that point, his attention went over to the fireworks. I had no idea how right he was.

* * *

**Soul's POV**

Bodhum was enjoying quite a surge of tourism at this time. I had decided to help Lebreau at the NORA house, serving food and drinks to the evening customers. I just looked over at the fireworks, silently wishing that Maka was safe somewhere.

Two days ago, Snow had formally introduced me to his girlfriend, and to both of our surprise, she knew my name before either of us finished the introduction. She then claimed that she had met Maka several days ago, somewhat raising my spirits. She had to still be somewhere in the area.

As the night continued on, one of the approaching customers caught my attention. It was this tall, tanned woman with messy black hair that went down to the middle of her back, wearing this black tank-top, sandal-boots, and these flowing blue robes that left her right leg and the right half of her torso exposed. She had two separate tattoos on her arms; her upper left arm featured a tattoo that reminded me of an animal's skull, and her right shoulder had this white tattoo consisting of several vertical lines, most of which ended in arrows, and a half-open eye in the center.

If Kid saw this woman, he'd flip out.

I watched the woman take a seat at the bar, keeping her head down as Lebreau came up to her.

"Anything you'd prefer?" Lebreau asked her.

"Champagne," the woman answered in this light Australian accent.

Lebreau started preparing the woman's order, but I kept my focus on this mysterious woman. I doubted that she was the typical tourist that Bodhum more than likely enjoyed at this time of year. She glanced briefly at me, and then turned her attention to Lebreau.

"By the way… I'm looking for someone. Have you seen a red-haired girl, nineteen years of age?"

"Um… Oh, you just missed her!" It was obvious that Lebreau was not answering the woman's question; Snow had just walked in, more than likely looking for Serah. "She said she'd be at the 'usual place'."

Snow silently thanked Lebreau and headed over.

"Sorry about that. Who'd you say you were looking for again?"

"A friend of mine. Bright red hair tied into fluffy pigtails, clothes of a style identical to mine. Have you seen anyone like that?"

"No. Sorry."

I could see the disappointment on the woman's face. I could easily empathize with her.

* * *

**Snow's POV**

As Lebreau assured me, I found Serah at the seaside walkway we often met at. She looked down at the water in depression. She's still worried about the l'Cie thing, huh?

"Hey," I announced my presence to her. She looked up at me in surprise, but her depressed face still persisted.

"Snow… I don't think…"

"Hey, we'll figure this out, I promise." It was right about then that I remembered why I wanted to speak with her in the first place. "Oh, yeah, I got you something." As she looked on, I pulled two necklaces from my pocket; both of them had charms depicting a silver carving of Cocoon, with some sort of inverted spire hanging below it. Yesterday, I accompanied Serah to go shopping for a gift for her sister's birthday tomorrow. At some point in the trip, I snuck away to buy these engagement necklaces. I put one of the necklaces around Serah's neck, and put the second one on my own. "We will figure out your Focus, I promise you. Whatever task you have to perform, I will stand by you, no matter what. I can't imagine life without you. Serah… my one… my only…" I got down on one knee, my head bowed in front of her. "Will you marry me?"

I kept my head down, so I could only imagine the look on Serah's face.

"Yes."

I immediately looked up as she said that. I just couldn't believe it.

"She said yes!" I was just so happy. "SHE SAID YES!"

Sometime later, Serah and I were riding an aerobike over the beach, watching the fireworks from this aerial view.

"You know, these are wish-granting fireworks," I commented after a few seconds. "They granted my wish."

"And… what was your wish?"

"That you'd say 'yes'." My new fiancé simply gazed at the fireworks, a trace of fear present in her eyes. "So… what did you wish for?"

"I wished… for the courage to tell Lightning that I've been… branded."

"Hey, our engagement is way bigger news," I assured her. I chuckled at the thought that just came up. "She's going to be my new sister…"

At this point, I daringly drove the bike into the field, watching the fireworks up close. Serah gazed around in a mesmerized trance… and I really couldn't blame her.

"Our own private heaven…" I commented lightly. Serah only looked around, absorbing the moment.

"Hey, Snow…" I glanced down at her in inquisition. "Do you think… every moment could be like this?"

"Of course."

I leaned forward, down towards her face… and then a random firework went off right next to the bike, and I hastily drove it out of the field. I looked over at Serah… and she was laughing at what had almost happened. I couldn't help but laugh with her. Shortly after we managed to catch our breath, we leaned over to each other, and shared a passionate kiss. I honestly couldn't imagine a better time.

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**That's it for this chapter. Please review, okay?**


	5. The Beginning of the End

**I realize I'm seriously pumping out the chapters of this thing, but bear with me. After this chapter, we move on the events of Final Fantasy XIII! Enjoy!**

* * *

_**Chapter 5**_

_**Day 12**_

_**The Beginning of the End**_

**Lightning's POV**

Today was the day… I was officially twenty-one as of today. The table in front of me was more or less decorated with exquisite foods… but almost none of it had been touched. I still had a hard time wrapping my head around the insane revelation Serah had just dropped.

"You become a l'Cie, so you're marrying this idiot," I gestured towards Snow, who was standing just behind Serah opposite me at the table, "and I'm supposed to buy that!? Full points for originality."

On its own, Snow's proposal would have been perfectly feasible… but add Serah being branded by a Pulse fal'Cie and it just doesn't make sense. Even Snow wouldn't be stupid enough to make THAT sort of tie with someone he could never enjoy it with. There was one other thing about the whole thing that was ridiculous.

"But remember, if you really are a l'Cie…" I stood up as I spoke, making eye-contact with my sister. "…it's my job to deal with you."

I could see Serah gasp in surprise, obviously disgruntled at how easily I was seeing through this ploy.

"Sis…"

"This is ridiculous." I turned away from the engaged couple, deciding enough was enough. "Worst birthday ever."

At this point, Serah became overcome with despair and ran out of the room.

"Serah!" Snow called after her, but it was no use. She had left the building. He instead turned to me in outrage. "What is wrong with you!? She's your sister!"

"Me? What about you? She becomes a l'Cie and you pop the question!?"

We both slammed our hands on the table at the next lines. "Stop it!"

"No, you stop it! Get out of my house!"

Snow only sighed heavily at my outburst. "Fine… if you won't do it… I will. I'LL protect Serah!" He left the room at this point. I still didn't buy the "l'Cie" thing.

"Good luck with that."

Roughly two hours later, I was nearly done cleaning the dishes from the untouched feast. I honestly didn't mind; it helped me take my mind off of the thought of having that moron as my brother-in-law. Besides, it was my area of specialty; between the two of us, Serah was the better cook, and I was the better housekeeper.

Right around that time, I noticed the gift from Serah that I had yet to open. I decided I may as well see what she got me, and slowly removed the ribbon, and then the lid. It was a small survival knife, most likely for use on my missions.

"How practical."

The television nearby interrupted my thoughts immediately afterwards.

"_We interrupt this broadcast for a Sanctum bulletin. Late last night, authorities confirmed the presence of a Pulse fal'Cie inside the city of Bodhum. The city has been placed under quarantine, and closed off to the rest of Cocoon, and will remain so until further notice. The Purging of Bodhum will begin tomorrow morning. This is a Sanctum bulletin: late last night, authorities confirmed the presence of a Pulse fal'Cie inside the city of Bodhum…_

_There's a Pulse fal'Cie inside the city of Bodhum…_

_Pulse fal'Cie… inside Bodhum…"_

Serah was telling the truth…

* * *

**Snow's POV**

**An hour earlier**

Dammit. PSICOM troops have already started preparing the vestige for the Purge, a forced migration of everyone near it to Pulse. I figured that I could just ask it what Serah's Focus was, but it looks like we'll have a hard time just reaching it.

I hastily led Serah through a sea of gunfire, eventually making it to an aerobike someone left of the side of the beach, which Serah and I quickly stole. I maneuvered the bike around the vestige, dodging fire from the other vehicles circling the lower world structure. I soon noticed a small ledge on the side of the vestige.

"Jump!" I commanded. Serah didn't need to be told twice, and she leapt onto the ledge and into safety… or so I thought.

Shortly after Serah landed on the ledge, the watery entryway behind her started acting up, reaching forward to grab her.

"Snow!" I heard her cry out in shock. I turned towards the disturbance, and saw what was happening. I drove the bike back to the ledge, reaching my hand towards Serah, desperately hoping to save her…

Unfortunately, one of the PSICOM officers took advantage of my distraction and shot my bike out of the sky, forcing me to watch Serah get dragged into the vestige with the door slamming shut behind her.

After the bike finally crashed into the sand, I unsteadily got out of the bike, staring at the vestige in despair and helplessness.

"Serah…"

I had to tell Lightning… But I'm not going to let this stop me.

After all, the heroes always win in the end.

* * *

**The next day**

**Maka's POV**

"Hey, let me go!" I screamed at the officers restraining me and leading me towards the train station. It was ridiculous. Someone finds a single Pulse fal'Cie (I still had little to no idea what the heck these things were) inside the city, and they decide to move the entire population of the town, and all the tourists that just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time to the world below, which I have been told was essentially "hell without the brimstone".

It wasn't long until we were at the supremely overcrowded station. Several of the residents/tourists were being led to this strange device, then onto the train. Everyone who came out of the scanner was wearing these white robes, likely to mark them as Purgees. I was still fighting back, only THIS close to giving each of the soldiers restraining me a hearty Maka Chop.

"This is NOT how you treat a woman!" I continued to protest. "You let me go right now or-"

"Maka!" I heard someone call me from somewhere in the line, so I turned my head to look in that direction. Running towards me was…

"Soul!" At the sight of my missing partner, I broke free from the soldiers' grip and made a run for Soul. The moment seemed to go in slow motion, complete with that cheesy reunion music that you remember from films. Nothing else existed in the world: only the person each of us has been searching for the last thirteen days. We were almost within arms' length of each other…

When the moment was ruined by the sounding of guns being readied. Soul and I stopped in mid-pose, and looked around to see several soldiers surrounding us, with their guns aimed directly at us.

"Get in line, now." One of them growled at us. Several of the people already in line groaned in disappointment; some forty-year-old African-American looking man with an afro and pilot's outfit even complained that we were "just getting to the good part".

Growling in annoyance, I got in the back of the line with Soul. I turned towards him, slowly so as to not upset the guards.

"Soul… where were you? I've been looking for you for almost two weeks."

"Same here. Serah's the only reason I didn't give up on looking for you."

Serah? "You met her? She told you I was okay?"

"Yeah." Before Soul could say anything further, a distressed couple made a run for the exit, but was gunned down by the guards. I looked on in horror at the act.

"Stay in your lines, or you will have the same fate!" a soldier warned the others. However, he was soon approached by another soldier: one I recognized as Serah's older sister. Lightning, right? The soldier seemed confused by the woman's approach… at least I think he was, I couldn't tell with that helmet.

"What's GC doing here? This operation is under PSICOM directive."

"So direct me," Lightning demanded. "I want to be Purged." The soldier she was talking to just stared at her skeptically.

"Only civvies get Purged. Sanctum officials and military personnel are exempt." Lightning responded by pulling this gun from a holster hanging from the back of her hips, unfolded the gun into a sword, and dropped it at the soldier's feet.

"Then I quit."

I had to wonder… was she serious? The soldier seemed just as surprised, but recovered fast enough to direct her to get in line behind me and Soul. As she walked over, an old man- the same one who complained about our interruption earlier, followed her and got in line behind her.

"Hey, uh, miss," he started hesitantly. "Couldn't you have been a little more, oh, I dunno, quiet about-"

"You want quiet, you'd better take the next train." Lightning interrupted him.

"Oh, now you got me all curious." He responded.

One look at Soul and I could tell…

We both had the same crazy idea.

* * *

**Ta-da! Please review. I'M BEGGING YOU!**


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